Snakes and Lions

The Conspirators

Draco was looking more aloof than ever at breakfast. Hermione leaned close to Harry to whisper:

"Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, would it? But he's not eating."

"Tell you a secret," Harry replied. "That look? He's nervous, or preoccupied."

Hermione pulled away and shot Harry an incredulous look. "Honestly, Harry!" she said.

"I'm serious!"

Harry helped Hermione find likely books, but insisted on going to the Quidditch match. He said even if he didn't want to, which he did, it was his duty, as Gryffindor captain, to observe how the teams played. He did, however, wait until right before the game to leave, and said he would come back right after it.

"How did it go?" she asked, when he returned.

"A bit long. Slytherin won, 180 to 50. Draco was brilliant. I'm starting to see McGonagall's point, though -- I think he has gotten better, flying with me." Harry scanned the pile of books Hermione had chosen and selected one titled Magical Law Enforcement. Susara slipped down to his wrist to investigate the musty pages. "The Slytherin-Gryffindor game is going to be interesting."

Draco showed up two hours later, which was much earlier than Harry was expecting. All of Slytherin must certainly adore him, at the moment, and Draco enjoyed being fussed over.

Harry glanced over. "Don't tell me Slytherin can't party more than two hours?" he teased, mostly to let Draco know he appreciated it, and partly to remind Hermione, who had looked annoyed at Draco's tardiness, what he was sacrificing.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand, Potter," Draco sneered, "but I have more important things to do then be fawned over by a lot of idiots who can barely stay on a broomstick." He strolled over. "What are you reading?" He read off titles from their pile. "Magical Law Enforcement. A History of Transportation in Europe. From Place to Place." His eyes flicked over Hermione as if she was a piece of furniture. "How enthralling."

Draco disappeared into the stacks and came back half an hour later with his own pile of books. He settled down at a table in sight of Harry and Hermione. Harry wished he could compare notes with Draco, who was leafing through Sneaking in (and out) of the Most Interesting Places.

They searched until dinner, and after eating, returned to their tables in the library. Harry, having given up on Hermione's selections, ventured into the stacks and came back with Memoirs of an Auror. He tried to scan it purposefully, but kept getting distracted by the accounts of exciting chases, horrible attacks, and high-power magic.

"Harry?" Hermione interrupted him, just as he was finishing a description of a massacre the author had been called in to investigate. "I think you should switch to something else."

"This could have it, though. It's got incredible detail."

"You're wasting too much time."

"Yes, but ... I'll try to just scan the places where the investigations start, all right?"

Hermione looked at her watch. "Fifteen minutes," she said. "Then you move on to something else."

Harry nodded and looked frantically back at the book.

Hodgson found only one Apparation signature, but there had clearly been many attackers. While she traced the Apparator, Lu and I searched for other traces. We found a Portkey trace, but it was at least five minutes old, and beyond tracing.

"This isn't directly helpful, but ..." Harry read the passage aloud to Hermione.

"Thirteen minutes," she replied. Harry resumed scanning through the book, looking for the places which recounted arriving on a scene.

Nine minutes later, Harry gave a shout.

"Here!" he exclaimed. "Listen:

I believe they chose a Portkey because it takes longer to trace than Apparating. Even if I have seen the wizard or witch vanish, it will take me at least a minute to follow the trail, and can take up to three if my first directional guess is incorrect. However, a Portkey trail remains traceable for several minutes, while an Apparation trail is traceable for two, at most.

"Great!" Hermione cheered. Draco, from behind the cover of Muggle Meets Magic -- Amusing Accidents in Twentieth Century Britain, winked encouragingly at Harry.

Harry and Draco exchanged their books for other ones with titles such as Make Your Own Way, Creating Magical Items for Fun and Profit, and Twenty Ways to Get from Here to There. They continued to search until Madame Pince announced Library closing.

"Will you bring me here again tomorrow?" Harry asked, as if talking to Hermione.

"Directly after breakfast," she said.

Draco sauntered over. "You should sit with me, Harry," he coaxed, ignoring Hermione. "You know how well we study together."

"We're closing, now," Madame Pince repeated, as she passed their tables. Hermione sighed and led Harry back to Gryffindor.

The next morning, Hermione took Harry to the library, but let him sit with Draco. Harry occasionally went over to consult with her. This was less suspicious than the three of them sitting together, but he thought it must still look pretty odd. The third time, he found they had been looking through different copies of the same book.

"All right," he whispered, "That settles it. We need to talk. You and I are going to leave here for a few minutes. I'll tell Draco to follow."

They met in an empty classroom halfway down the second floor corridor.

"We could," Hermione said pointedly, "just sit together."

"No," Draco said.

"You don't need to like it --"

"What I like is not the problem," Draco interrupted sharply. "If I am seen with a M- Muggle-born student, it will be gossip. If Crabbe or Goyle or Nott hears, or Snape, even, my father will be told. That will make him suspicious, and everything much more difficult."

"We could take books down to the Chamber," Harry suggested.

"I can't disappear for the whole day!" Hermione objected.

"Why not? You used to."

"And you pointed out that I should not."

"Hermione..."

Hermione took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "My room," she said.

"I can't go into Gryffindor!" Draco objected.

"You can wear the cloak, and follow us in. Gryffindor tower is just a few flights of stairs from the library -- You or I can run back for more books, if needed."

Draco stared. "You're serious."

"It will work better than this morning!"

Draco nodded. "Yes." He looked uncomfortable. With a stiff nod, he said, "Thank you, Miss Granger."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "Um... You're welcome."

Accordingly, they moved up to Hermione's room. Harry explained to Draco that Hermione had set the first step on the stair to temporarily douse the lights in her room, to give her a few seconds to prepare for visitors, so if the room went momentarily dark, he should hide immediately.

Draco shot Hermione an amused glance. "Paranoid of you," he commented.

"I like to be decent when I answer the door. Besides, I developed a secret vice over the summer," Hermione confessed, with mock shame. "Music. And if I'm reading, losing my light is about the only thing I notice."

Hermione claimed the desk, so Harry settled on the floor where it had a rug, and he could lean back against the bed. Draco lay on his stomach on the rug, with his current book laid out in front of him. For the most part, they scanned books in silence, though occasionally one of them would read a passage aloud. When they realized they had missed lunch, Hermione went down the kitchens and fetched back food.

Just when Harry was wondering if they should put in an appearance at dinner, Draco let out a whoop.

"Found it?"

"Well, no, but this explains how to modify a portkey so that it works on a touch, rather than on a schedule. It has the procedure for creating a shielding cover, as well, as well."

"Wonderful!" Hermione stood and stretched. "I hate to say this, but I do need to do homework. Is this a good place to stop for the day?"

Draco looked taken aback. "Of course. I ... I need to do homework, too, of course."

"Great," Harry said, to stop Draco from babbling. "Let's meet right after dinner, tomorrow. Draco can follow us up, right Draco?"

Draco nodded. "That's fine," he said quietly.

After nearly two hours of research the next evening, Harry said:

"It exists."

"Details, Harry," Draco urged.

"This doesn't have directions, but it says 'Portable portkeys, sometimes called 'person-to-place' portkeys, require a more complex anchor potion.' It's just a parenthetical statement in the --"

"But it means that what we're looking for exists, and it's given us two names to look for!" Hermione exclaimed happily. "That's wonderful, Harry!"

For the next twenty minutes, they scanned back though their books for "portable" and "person-to-place" portkeys.

"We need to go to the library again," Draco said, letting his last book fall onto the previous four with a thump.

Harry checked the time. He saw Hermione doing the same.

"Tomorrow, I think," he said.

Draco nodded. He looked discouraged. "Tomorrow, then. We have eight days." He growled. "We'll find this thing and it will rely on a potion that takes two weeks to brew, or something."

"Let's assume not," Hermione said firmly. "Actually, assume we can find the instructions, brew the 'more complex' anchor potion, and create a portable portkey. What is the rest of the plan?"

"I need my broom in Hogsmeade, or at the gates, hidden somehow."

"I've been thinking about that," Harry said. "The Shrieking Shack. It's perfect."

"The what!?" Draco yelped. "I'm supposed to live through this, remember?"

"It's not haunted," Hermione told him. "It's where Professor Lupin was confined, during the full moon, when he was a Hogwarts student."

"There's a secret passage to get there from Hogwarts," Harry added.

"And it's very private," Hermione said. "No one would take your broom, and we could do any necessary casting there." She frowned. "There's no way out of it into Hogsmeade, though. It's boarded up."

"We could bring down an axe."

"Once he's there, he can't afford delay."

"I can apparate," Draco contributed.

"But that's --"

"Look, I know I'm too young to be licensed, but I know how. And short distances are easy. I'll portkey to the Shrieking Shack, pick up the broom, and apparate to the Hogwarts gates, then fly from there."

"Then we need to get you to Dumbledore," Harry said.

"I hope no one will follow me into the building."

"If they do," Hermione warned, "they'll get a good line of sight on you, at the stairs, and in the last hall. You'll be hexed."

"He shouldn't come inside," Harry said.

"No?"

"It would be faster if you fly straight to his office window."

Draco shrugged. "I suppose. Do you know how to find his office from outside?"

Harry shook his head. "I'll try to figure it out next time I'm there."

Draco smirked. "Your turn to get food from the house elves, tomorrow, then. No cloak."

"I don't need to get in trouble, Draco," Harry protested.

"No?"

"I could just say I wanted to talk to him." Harry felt uneasy. If he did that, he would need something to say, or he might find himself talking about something he didn't intend to reveal.

Hermione, significantly, picked up her library books and put them in a pile by the door. Draco stood and gathered up his own.

"Tomorrow?" Draco asked.

Hermione thought.

"Not after lab," Harry protested. He could imagine the interrogations he'd get if Draco and Hermione realized they had different times for the end of the Potions special study lab.

"No..." Hermione agreed, "that's too late to start, but we could work from the end of classes to the start of lab, if you don't mind missing dinner."

Harry nodded. "Your turn to get food from the house elves, Draco," he said flippantly.

"Would ... Do you think that's safe?" Draco asked uneasily. "Will they...?"

"Draco, they're house elves. They will give you food, whether they like you or not." Harry was surprised, but pleased, that Draco had taken him seriously. Draco willingly fetching anything for people with no authority over him was quite impressive. "Be polite, and stay away from Dobby, and you should be fine."

"And what do I do if Dobby doesn't stay away from me?" Draco protested.

Harry grinned. "Tell him you're under my protection."

Draco snorted. "I'd rather be attacked by a mad house elf."

"Malfoy, wait," Hermione said, as Draco began to settle Harry's cloak into place.

"What now, Granger?"

"We haven't discussed books. I think we should all visit the library during the day, tomorrow --"

"Obviously."

"but I'm wondering if we should check the restricted section, tonight."

"Tonight?" Draco asked. "The library's been closed for an hour."

"So, before you leave with the cloak, of course!"

Draco stared at her. "Wouldn't you rather get permission from someone, Granger?"

"We already look suspicious!" Hermione protested. "Madame Pince commented on my sudden interest in transportation, this afternoon. I made a joke about how obsessed I get when I can't find an answer, and she let it drop, but she must have noticed you are studying the same thing. If I come in with a note for the restricted section, then you come in with a note for the restricted section, and we both leave with transportation books...."

Draco nodded, but he looked very thoughtful.

"All right," Harry said decisively. "Hermione, you're taking me to the hospital wing, should anyone ask. For 'pain' -- anyone who cares will assume my scar is hurting, but I don't want to admit it. Draco, follow us out -- we'll get under the cloak near the library." Harry looked between the two of them. "I'll be in the middle. It's my cloak."

"Will it fit over all of us?"

Hermione giggled. "It was easier when we were smaller -- Harry and Ron and me."

"Just stay close and shuffle," Harry said. "It should do. It went over you and me and those enormous sacks, Draco, remember?"

"I'd never forget that."

Fifteen minutes later, they were in the restricted section of the library. In the cover of the stacks, Draco and Hermione left the cloak to search independently, and Draco showed Harry and Hermione a special variation on Lumos that produced an especially dim light that went only in one direction.

After they had been hunting a while, Hermione triumphantly held an open book aloft. "This one," she whispered. "Everything but the trigger."

"If we don't find better, we can probably modify it," Draco whispered back.

"I expect so. Search another five minutes, I think."

Harry and Hermione stopped by the library at the end of their lunch time and checked the regular section, but did not find anything better than the two books they had brought home the night before. Hermione, who had studied the procedure before going to bed, summarized it for Harry and Draco as soon as they were all together.

"The Anchor potion can be brewed anywhere -- and it only takes twenty-eight hours, D- Malfoy, but it must be moved to the Anchor position soon after it is completed. The potion then needs to sit, undisturbed, in the target location of the portkey, for twenty-four hours. It's not actually much more complicated then the normal anchor potion, but the person who will be using the portkey needs to participate in the brewing of it, either actively, or by contributing blood -- I think that's why this book is in the restricted section -- it has a lot of spells and potions that require or suggest human blood as an ingredient. After the Anchor potion has settled at that location, we need to take an item -- and we'll need the shielding cover ready for it, Malfoy -- dip it in the Anchor potion, and cast a Portal Charm on it, encase it in the cover, then pour the Anchor potion out onto the floor, slowly enough that it is absorbed, rather than dripping though --"

"As I don't want to end up on two floors of the Shrieking Shack."

"But you could fulfill its reputation, Dragon," Harry teased.

"I'll cede that honorable privilege to another, I think."

"It shouldn't be that difficult. We can use a place with a rug." Hermione looked anxiously at the potion directions, again. "We do have time, but only just. Getting the ingredients won't be easy. I think we should use the modification Draco found with this, rather than waste any more time looking for the exact procedure to do it with a trigger. Draco, that was a modified Portal Charm followed by a Latency Charm?"

"Something like that. I still have the book. Should I go get it?"

After Draco returned with the book, he and Hermione began to analyze the necessary modifications to the procedure Hermione found. They went so far as to argue (civilly, to Harry's surprise) about a single ingredient modification to the Anchor potion. Harry, who had no opinion as to the relative merits of spider silk versus silkworm silk, stayed silent until Hermione started to look frustrated.

"Draco?" he asked.

"Don't tell me you care!"

"No, but ... can we get silkworm cocoons? By Sunday, which is the absolute latest we can start this?"

That settled that.

While they ate the food Draco had brought from the kitchens (beef and horseradish roulades, carrot and cucumber sticks with a sour cream sauce for dipping, and a pork terrine and cheese for the two kinds of bread), they discussed the problem of getting Draco to Dumbledore's office.

"What if he's not there?" Draco protested.

"He just is," Harry said. "Professor Dumbledore is always in the right place when you need him. It's like someone is always trying to kill me."

"What if he isn't for me? Or what if he won't open the window for me? Dumbledore has guarding spells on you, Harry -- Father has mentioned it -- so it's not surprising he's around when you need him to be."

"Maybe Harry could meet you," Hermione suggested.

"Fly ahead and get him to let me in," Harry agreed. "Is there some way you could signal me?"

They all thought. Draco pressed a slice of the terrine onto the white bread. He frowned at the dish. "May I have the extra aspic?"

"Ick!" Hermione exclaimed.

"That's a yes," Harry agreed. "All yours."

Draco rolled his eyes. "No appreciation for good food." He scooped out the remaining gelatin and piled it on top of his smooshed meat. After he had finished a bite, he said:

"I could create an insignius."

"Like the Dark Mark?!" Hermione gasped.

"They're permitted for emergency use in areas without too many Muggles. I think this qualifies. It's only because of the Dark Mark that they cause alarm." Draco smirked. "A good thing, in this case. Even if you're not looking, Harry, you should hear almost immediately if a glowing shape appears in the sky." Draco took another bite of his bread.

"I don't like it," Hermione stated.

"But just because of the Dark Mark," Harry protested. "Draco's right -- there's nothing inherently wrong with making a shape with sparks in the sky."

"I don't know what shape, though," Draco said.

Harry stared at him. "You don't?"

"You have an idea?"

"A silver dragon, of course." Harry grinned. "That's what you are in my dreams, half the time."

"You dream about me?" Draco looked intrigued. "Do tell."

"The last one was a nightmare, actually. We were..." Harry concentrated. "It was when you cast Osum Crema --" Harry ignored Hermione's shocked exclamation -- "but I cast it after you. You told me I was brilliant, but then Death Eaters came out of the Chamber, and you turned to a dragon, and your father killed you. Then I picked up your wand and ... er ... fought with that."

"Wonderful," Draco said dryly. "I hope your dreams are not usually prophetic."

"Only when my scar hurts, and it didn't that time. It reminded me of a dream I had in November, though. I hadn't thought of that dragon as you, at the time, of course. I looked into the Chamber and saw Death Eaters. A silver dragon flew out of the circle of them and passed me, and the Death Eaters chased us. We were trapped by a landslide, but Voldemort wasn't with them, so I sealed the Chamber by speaking Parseltongue, and they were all trapped inside."

Hermione was looking at Harry with a very odd expression on her face. "My scar didn't hurt that time, either," he assured her. "It was just a dream."

She didn't seem to hear him. "Does the Chamber of Secrets show on the Marauder's map?" she asked.

"I wouldn't think so. Fred and George would have looked, don't you think? I mean, especially once Ginny was taken."

"Maybe it's outside the Apparation guards."

Harry stared at her. "But it's part of the school."

"Sort of. It's deeper than the rest of the school."

"We better check," Harry said, jumping to his feet. "If people can apparate into there, I need to seal it."

"You have to have been to a place to apparate to it," Draco protested.

"And Voldemort's been in the chamber, back when he was a student. He opened it."

"Voldemort went to Hogwarts?" Draco was astounded. Harry was astounded that Draco had used Voldemort's name, without saying "Lord".

"He was called 'Tom Riddle' then. 'Tom Marvolo Riddle"

"Get the map, Harry, and come back here," Hermione said authoritatively. "We'll check it together."

It was early enough that they didn't need the cloak. They checked the map before ducking into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. To Harry's relief, Draco could not apparate from the Chamber. The dangerous aspects of that far outweighed the benefits, in Harry's mind.

"So now we're back to flying to Dumbledore's office," Draco said, frowing absently at the dim bulk of Salazar Slythin's statue. He sighed, then leaned over the table to pour a drink. "Cognac, Miss Granger?"

"No, thank you," said Hermione, but she smiled.

"We have butterbeer if you'd rather."

Draco handed the cognac to Harry and a butterbeer to Hermione, then poured another cognac for himself. Harry saw Hermione consider saying something, but Draco was speaking, again.

"The problem is," he said, "Harry does not have access to his broom. Therefore, he cannot precede me."

"Problem," Harry agreed, taking a seat on the couch. Draco motioned Hermione to sit also. He paced. Harry took Hermione's butterbeer, opened it, warmed it, and handed it back to her. Hermione felt the sides of the bottle and stared at it.

"Perhaps we could liberate it at the start of vacation?" Draco suggested.

"Someone will notice."

Hermione stopped examining the warmed butterbeer. "Perhaps," she said, "I could talk Professor McGonagall into lifting that restriction, at least for the holidays."

Draco snorted. "Maybe if Harry has another public fight with me."

"You might get further talking to Dumbledore," Harry suggested.